Bonfires to Swingsets
by HecateA
Summary: Teddy knows Victoire well—so well that this change is scary and disorienting. He knows that going from campfire to the old swing won't erase what happened, but if he can pretend that everything is normal, maybe it will be. Oneshot.


**Author's Note: **Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

**Hogwarts: **Agricultural Studies Task #1, Write about watching something (or someone) grow

**Warnings: **Canon character deaths

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**Stacked with: **MC4A; Hogwarts

**Bonus challenge(s): **Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; Seeds; Times to Come; Old Shoes; Brush; Summer Vacation; Trope It Up A (Best Friends to Partners); Themes and Things A (Change); Themes and Things B (Joy); Trope it Up C (Huddled together for warmth); True Colours; In a Flash; Yellow Ribbon; Yellow Ribbon Redux

**Tertiary bonus challenge(s):** NA

**Word count: **1002

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**Bonfires to Swingsets **

_that's part of it all_

_part of the beauty of falling in love with you_

_is the fear you won't fall_

-The Fear You Won't Fall, Joshua Radin

The swing behind the house was a nice, quiet place and it was where Victoire often went to when she was upset. She'd staked out that particular patch of Shell Cottage out as her own with the authority and fierceness that only a big sister could muster, so it was usually relatively quiet. That's where she was sitting now, looking at her toes, which Dominique had painted a nice shade of turquoise a few days ago.

"Let me give you a push," Teddy said, approaching. The sand squashing in between his toes turned to grass as he made his way to her.

She looked up at him. She was wearing a pair of jean cutoffs and a grey sweater, and one of her mum's shawls was wrapped around her shoulders.

He pushed against her back and she swung, silver hair streaking behind her.

For a while it was just swinging back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. That familiar motion was just that: familiar. Teddy liked familiar. It meant that he and Victoire were in this together, that Teddy could Apparate to Shell Cottage and find her for a conversation or a game or a swim or a walk or anything at all. The rhythm of Victoire's swing soothed Teddy's nerves, and the quiet they were maintaining kindled some kind of hope that normalcy was still possible.

And then Victoire dug her heels into the ground and turned back to face him, arms crossed.

"What?" Teddy said.

"This is a real problem," Victoire said. "I'm not going to swing it away."

"I wasn't trying to…" Teddy chewed at his lips and looked at the ground. "I wasn't trying to do that, I know we've got to talk for real. I just also know that we're really in a tight spot, because when I'm upset I go to you and when you're upset you come to me, and so when we're upset with each other we're really in trouble…"

Victoire looked as if she was about to smile for a second, but then her lip quivered and she started crying.

"I'm sorry I kissed you," she said, wiping at her eyes.

"Hey," Teddy said. "Hey, don't be sorry…"

He knelt by the swing and looked nervously towards Shell Cottage. They seemed to be far enough and alone, so he turned his attention back to Victoire and put a hand on her cheek.

Victoire looked up to him again.

"I ruined everything," she said.

"You did not," Teddy promised. His stomach gurgled when he thought back to it; the way they'd been alone with the empty cans of beer around the fire they'd built on the beach, after her siblings and some other miscellaneous Weasley cousins had gone to bed. The way Victoire had been sitting closer to him than usual, but Teddy hadn't thought about anything much until… well…

"I'm not mad at you," Teddy said.

"You're not?" Victoire asked.

He nodded. "I promise."

She raised her pinky. He hooked his pinky around hers and then bumped his fist against hers. He made a little explosion sound with his mouth as he opened his hand again. She smiled and wiped at her eyes.

"Sorry," she said. "Sorry I've been avoiding you all day too, I guess. I was… I was scared."

"You don't have to be."

"I was stupid," Victoire said. "I wasn't thinking and I…"

"Don't worry," Teddy promised. "It's… it's not a big deal. We'd both been drinking. It happens."

Victoire chewed her lip.

"If I'm going to be honest Teddy, I… knew what I was doing," she said, chewing her lip. "The campfire was just at that beautiful part of dying down where the coals were soft and warm, the smell of smoke felt so comfortable, and we were sharing that blanket and honestly Teddy it's… it's not like I hadn't wanted to do it for a while now. And last night the moment just felt so... right."

The picture she painted was so vivid to Teddy, no matter how unfamiliar and strange and new that moment itself had been.

Victoire sighed and hid her face in her hands.

"Not that there's a right time to kiss your best friend," she moaned. "It's not… because you are, Teddy, you're my best friend. But I also did that thing and I can't lie to you about why I did it, but it doesn't change anything and I don't know what to do and usually you're the person who tells me what to do but obviously now…"

She stopped and teased her lip again.

"Now what?" she asked.

Teddy took a deep breath too.

"Well," he said. "You should probably think about that kiss again, Vic. I know I have and… and you should think about who kissed you back."

Victoire looked up at him again.

"I mean, I guess I didn't do it well enough if you don't remember," Teddy said.

"No," Victoire said. "No, no, I was just so worked up…"

"I thought you were mad at _me _for that."

"I thought you were mad at _me," _Victoire shot back.

"No," Teddy said. "No, not at all. And I know it'll make things kind of complicated with the families, but you should know that if you were to kiss me again, I would probably be the happiest I've ever been."

Victoire looked at him for a second, lips just a little apart, which was basically torture now that Teddy was more familiar with them.

"Really?" she asked.

Teddy nodded. "Yeah. I mean, I know it'd really jeopardize the rules around sleepovers and your siblings would never let it die down, but…"

And with that Victoire jumped off the swing and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him again. Teddy fell backwards onto the grass and did not mind at all.


End file.
